T-Mobile UK launches midrange Vivacity droid, free on contract

T-Mobile UK have unveiled their Vivacity Android smartphone, available today for as little as free of charge on a £10 per month deal or £99 on pay as you go. It will be available starting today at T-Mobile stores, the online shop and telesales. Specs are middle of the road matching the low asking price. On the front there's a 3.5x16M color TFT of WVGA (480 x 800) resolution capacitive touchscreen display. On the back there's a 5 MP snapper, while the inside goodies include HSDPA, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS and Android Gingerbread 2.3 among others.

The T-Mobile Vivacity is lightweight at 118 g and thin at 10.5 mm.



GSM Arena, T-Mobile UK launches midrange Vivacity droid, free on contract

Bing brings the holiday gold, offers free Xbox Live preview for Thanksgiving weekend

Need something to do while your loved ones slave over hot stoves and turkey platters. Microsoft and Bing have got your back, offering gamers another free Xbox Live Gold weekend to help you frag your way through the holiday. Of course, if you're feeling too sedentary to twitch your thumbs, you can always veg out with your Netflix queue or use the console's ESPN app to get your traditional Thanksgiving sports fix. Either way, you're golden until the 27th - after that, you'll need to pony up and subscribe.

Engadget, Bing brings the holiday gold, offers free Xbox Live preview for Thanksgiving weekend

BlackBerry Curve 9380 hits the FCC, talking the T-Mobile talk

RIM's first all-screen Curve has sashayed over to the FCC. Two models of the BlackBerry Curve 9380, the REA70UW and REB70UW, are included in the latest filing, which goes into typical laborious detail on radio frequencies and the like. Thankfully, those myriad charts and graphs reveal support for WCDMA band IV, meaning that the phone plays nice with T-Mobile's 3G network. Let's just hope that, if given the chance to strut its stuff in the US market, it follows the Curve family tradition of arriving keenly priced.

Engadget, BlackBerry Curve 9380 hits the FCC, talking the T-Mobile talk

Court holds European ISPs can't be forced to filter traffic, users free to fly the jolly roger

It's been a sliver under a month since UK ISP British Telecom was ordered to cut all ties to filesharing site Newzbin 2. Now, a European court decision deals a counter blow to media owners by denying their demands to hustle ISPs into tracking freeloading downloaders. Specifically, the court held that it was illegal to force an ISP to install and maintain a system filtering all of its traffic as it could infringe customer privacy rights.

Engadget, Court holds European ISPs can't be forced to filter traffic, users free to fly the jolly roger

Intel decides Pentiums are good enough for servers too, at least the low-end ones

Ah, the venerable Pentium CPU. Few chips are as recognizable but, these days, the brand is relegated to the low-end of the desktop and laptop market. Now Intel is looking to broaden its appeal, by pushing the classic line into servers, though, again targeting the bottom of the spectrum. The Pentium 350 is a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU with 3MB of cache and no integrated GPU, which most servers have no need for - especially in low-power machines dedicated to file sharing or low-traffic web hosting. While the 15W part is already shipping, we couldn't find any pricing information.

Engadget, Intel decides Pentiums are good enough for servers too, at least the low-end ones

New LG Prada Phone 3.0 announced, will be out in 2012

LG and Prada have unveiled that they're going to launch a new mobile phone sometime "in early 2012" (most likely at CES or MWC). Called "Prada Phone by LG 3.0", the new device is presented by LG only in a teaser image (included below) - but it's enough to see that it does look like that K2 P940 which we've been seeing around lately. Unlike the previous LG Prada handsets (released in 2007 and 2008), the new one will be a smartphone.

LG didn't officially disclose any of the features the new Prada 3.0 phone will have.

Unwired View, New LG Prada Phone 3.0 announced, will be out in 2012

Apple and Samsung's patent battle draws concern from EU Competition Commission

It appears that Samsung and Apple's never-ending game of patent Risk is beginning to draw concern from government regulators. The European Union's Competition Commission is investigating the companies' various disputes out of a growing worry that the war could be stifling competition in the mobile market. The agency's commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, has request information about the patents in question from both companies, though he has yet to receive a reply.

2DayBlog.com, Apple and Samsung's patent battle draws concern from EU Competition Commission

ASUS Transformer Prime gets a stomach full of Ice Cream Sandwich

Sure, the Transformer Prime has been official for a couple of weeks now, but we haven't seen the 10-inch tablet get much action. ASUS is finally ready to show us the quad-core Tegra 3 tablet — running Ice Cream Sandwich, no less. The tablet won't actually ship with the brain-freezing mobile OS, but the company has promised a sweet, sweet upgrade.

2DayBlog.com, ASUS Transformer Prime gets a stomach full of Ice Cream Sandwich

NVIDIA's Tesla GPU powers Tsubame 2.0 to green supercomputer supremacy

The Green500 might not be quite as well known as the Top500, but it's no less of an honor to be counted among the world's most energy efficient supercomputers. NVIDIA is tooting its own horn for making it on to the list for the second year in a row as part of the "greenest" petaflop machine. The Tsubame 2.0 at the Tokyo Institute of Technology's Global Scientific Information Center is powered by Intel's Xeon CPUs, but NVIDIA's Tesla general purpose GPUs do a vast majority of the number crunching, allowing it to deliver 1.19 petaflops of performance while consuming only 1.2 megawatts.

Engadget, NVIDIA's Tesla GPU powers Tsubame 2.0 to green supercomputer supremacy

Tamagotchi turns 15, wonders why you haven't fed it in a decade

Remember that little Tamagotchi you promised to always love and care for. When was the last time you fed the thing. Twelve years ago. The little guy's probably starving. Bandai's line of pocket pets turns 15 today - the first Tamagotchi on sale November 23rd, 1996, becoming a downright phenomenon that proceeded to baffle parents everywhere. Since then, the attention demanding key chains have spawned several video games, a TV series and an animated movie.

Engadget, Tamagotchi turns 15, wonders why you haven't fed it in a decade

Apple's television said to launch in mid-2012 as competition begins to panic

. Apple's competition is scrambling as it attempts to figure out exactly what the company has in store for the television industry next year, one analyst reports. In a recent note to clients, Jefferies & Company analyst Peter Misek writes that production of Apple's debut television will begin in February at a Sharp plant in Japan. The HDTV will utilize Sharp display panels according to the analyst, and it will launch some time in mid-2012. Companies like Samsung are reportedly looking to Google TV as a potential draw for future sets, but first-generation devices powered by Android and Google's TV product did not fare well.

Boy Genius Report, Apple's television said to launch in mid-2012 as competition begins to panic

Kobo Touch introduced

The e-book reader market is certainly a growing and competitive one – especially for a country like the US where plenty of people get their reading done while they are on a subway or taking public transport somewhere. With so many e-book readers to choose from, just which would you gun for. Kobo has just announced their latest Kobo Touch that will retail for $99 a pop, in addition to other promotions associated with Kobo's range of e-book readers. Well, we will focus on just the Kobo Touch today, where it sports a new software that paves the way for extended customization without spoiling the overall experience.

Ubergizmo, Kobo Touch introduced

China overtakes U.S. as world's largest smartphone market

. China has overtaken the United States as the world's top smartphone market by volume according to new data released on Wednesday. Market research firm Strategy Analytics found that a record 23.9 million smartphones were shipped in China during the third quarter, representing sequential growth of 58%. In the U.S., smartphone shipments fell to 23.3 million units, a 7% dip compared to the second quarter.

Boy Genius Report, China overtakes U.S. as world's largest smartphone market

Volkswagen eT! is the delivery man's perfect partner

Here's a research vehicle from Volkswagen that's not going to make production soon, belonging more to an 80s TV series. They've done cabs before, but this time it's a light commercial van. The eT. is the fruit of a think tank on future transport and mobility issues by VW, Deutsche Post AG (Germany's Pos Malaysia) and University of Art at Braunschweig, with support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.





2DayBlog.com, Volkswagen eT! is the delivery man's perfect partner

BlackBerry PlayBook native email, calendar and contacts app spotted

It's taken RIM awhile but it looks like they've finally made some progress on the essential native apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook. In case you're unfamiliar with the PlayBook tablet, one of its biggest drawbacks was the lack of functionality when used without a BlackBerry phone. For example, the tablet didn't even have its own native email client. Yesterday at the BlackBerry Innovation Forum, RIM gave a demonstration of the native email, contacts and calendar apps that will be arriving on the PlayBook sometime in the future.

Ubergizmo, BlackBerry PlayBook native email, calendar and contacts app spotted

Asus Transformer Prime pre-orders are open

A few of my contacts in Google+ have already pre-ordered their Asus Transformer Prime as soon as the pre-orders went live on Amazon. At the moment, it is not clear when the device will ship, or if they will get a unit before Christmas, but I'm sure that most bet they will. Other places than Amazon will carry it and I've heard that Tiger Direct or Best Buy would also have it in stock. If you don't remember what the Asus Transformer Prime is, it's Asus' newest tablet which is equipped with NVIDIA's Tegra 3 quad-core chip. The tablet comes with 32GB or 64GB of storage, and uses a 10.1″ 1280×1024 IPS display.

Ubergizmo, Asus Transformer Prime pre-orders are open

Car Design Technology

Yellow sports car. Original car design via Shuttertock. Car designs have changed quite bit since their inception, and it's fair to say that cars went through a lot of designs trends, driven by an endless cycle of innovation of technology, materials and usage model. After more than a century of car innovation, there is no sign that we've seen the end of it.

From curious inventions and leisure vehicles in the early days, cars have become objects of mass production and a necessity of modern life.

Ubergizmo

See also:
gadgeter, Car Design Technology

Mimecast named Security Vendor of the Year at 2011 CRN Channel Awards

Cloud-based email management provider scoops prestigious UK award in recognition of its channel programme and security products22nd November 2011 - London, UK: Mimecast®, the leading supplier of cloud-based email archiving, continuity and security for Microsoft Exchange and Office 365, has been named 2011 Security Vendor of the Year at the prestigious CRN Channel Awards.The CRN Security Vendor of the Year award recognises the overall contribution that Mimecast is making to business development in the channel, in terms of its security product range and development, channel and marketing programmes, and service and support.Nessa Lynchehaun

Press Release Distribution, Mimecast named Security Vendor of the Year at 2011 CRN Channel Awards

BiTMICRO's next-gen SSD controller to deliver blazing speed and big storage in 2012

SSD controllers aren't the most glamorous chunks of silicon to be hawking, but you can make quite a name for yourself with them (just ask SandForce). BiTMICRO is betting that its next-gen platform will be something manufacturers will want in on. Targeted primarily at enterprise class devices, the as yet unnamed chips will be capable of performing 400,000 random write IOPS per second and support drives up to 5TB in size. By comparison, SandForce's SF-2000 tops out at 60,000 IOPS. Others will have time to catch up, though, BiTMICRO says the platform will be ready for "market testing" during the first half of 2012.

Engadget, BiTMICRO's next-gen SSD controller to deliver blazing speed and big storage in 2012

Arduino kit beams low-fi Google Weather to VGA screens

Looking for another way to use that aging VGA CRT screen hogging space in the closet. Try making your own dedicated weather screen by mixing together Google's meteorological data stream and some Arduino magic. It looks like parsing that Google Weather data was a bit of a challenge on the miniscule 2KB of RAM, but a tinkerer going by the handle Zmashiah has managed to do it. He's even managed to cram in a few extra graphical flourishes, including icons and background themes that change depending on the temperature and time of day.

Engadget, Arduino kit beams low-fi Google Weather to VGA screens

Apple to update iOS to support NFC in 2012?

We know that an iPhone with NFC is an old rumor, but it seems that it has managed to be revived again with a new report by Digitimes. The report is claiming that according to smartphone manufacturers, Apple has plans to add support to iOS come 2012 and possibly in conjunction with the next iPhone. NFC for phones has yet to take off in a big way save for countries like Japan where NFC is being used on a daily basis.

Ubergizmo, Apple to update iOS to support NFC in 2012?

Production for iPad 3′s QXGA displays has reportedly started

According to DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim - who was quoted by Cnet recently - production for displays that will be used on Apple's upcoming iPad has already started (with Apple sourcing the panels from three suppliers, most probably Samsung, Sharp, and LG). Reportedly, the new iPad will have a 10 inch IPS screen with a 2048 x 1536 resolution, for a total of 3,145,728 pixels - four times more than the 786,432 pixels found on the displays of iPad 1 and iPad 2. It's not the first time we're hearing the new iPad would have such a huge resolution.

Unwired View, Production for iPad 3′s QXGA displays has reportedly started

Tradeshift helps Birmingham NHS agency to streamline invoice system

A new system designed to deal with supplier invoices more effectively has been introduced at a Birmingham NHS agency this month.LONDON, UK - 22 Nov, 2011: Tradeshift, the social network for business, has announced that Birmingham Primary Care Shared Service Agency (BPCSSA), the Financial Services Directorate that provides Finance and Procurement to 3 Primary Care Trusts and one NHS Trust across Birmingham, will be using its e-invoicing tool to transform how it interacts with over 6,000 suppliers.

Press Release Distribution, Tradeshift helps Birmingham NHS agency to streamline invoice system

Netflix reveals new user interface experience for Android tablets, iPad version coming soon

You've already had a peek at it in the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, but it seems that redesigned user interface is going to be hitting more than just the holiday's most-talked about duo.

2DayBlog.com, Netflix reveals new user interface experience for Android tablets, iPad version coming soon

Kyobo, Qualcomm make Mirasol color displays a reality, with the Kyobo eReader

Don't look now, but Mirasol has just arisen from the dead. Today, Korea's Kyobo Book Centre and Qualcomm jointly unveiled the world's first Mirasol-coated e-reader, just a few months after CEO Paul Jacobs heralded the demise of his company's color e-paper format. The device, known as the Kyobo eReader, sports a 5.7-inch, 1024 x 768 color display with 223ppi and touchscreen capabilities, runs Android 2.3 and is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 CPU. Kyobo says you'll be able to use the WiFi-enabled slate for "weeks" on a single charge, as long as you do so at decreased brightness, and for a total of 30 minutes per day.

Engadget, Kyobo, Qualcomm make Mirasol color displays a reality, with the Kyobo eReader

Sogeti celebrates 25 years of providing leading-edge Quality Assurance and Testing Services at EuroSTAR

Leading testing company reflects on 25 years of pioneering application, infrastructure and physical testingLondon - 22 November 2011 - Sogeti, a leading provider of professional technology services, specialising in Application Management, Infrastructure Management, High-Tech Engineering and Testing to corporate and public sector clients, celebrates 25 years of providing dedicated testing consulting and execution services this month.

Press Release Distribution, Sogeti celebrates 25 years of providing leading-edge Quality Assurance and Testing Services at EuroSTAR

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook Now In Black

Samsung has just added a new color option ‘Piano Black' to its Series 5 Chromebook line-up. Just like its predecessors (white and silver models), the black version also comes equipped with a 12.1-inch 1280 x 800 LED-backlit display, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N570 dual-core processor, a 2GB DDR3 RAM, a 16GB SSD, a 4-in-1 card reader, WiFi, a 4-cell battery and runs on Chrome OS. This black version of Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is now available for purchase in the US via Amazon for $349.99.

TechFresh, Samsung Series 5 Chromebook Now In Black

Verizon's Black Friday: $199 Xoom, $49 LG Revolution, free Droid Incredible 2, Xperia Play, and more

Earlier today we brought you all the necessary information about Amazon's Black Friday deals (although the retailer has already made them available). Truth be told, it's hard for any other company to beat Amazon's sale of many high-end smartphones for just one penny. That said, if you were wondering what Verizon had up its sleeve(s) for this Black Friday, wonder no more for that information has been leaked to Droid Life.

Unwired View, Verizon's Black Friday: $199 Xoom, $49 LG Revolution, free Droid Incredible 2, Xperia Play, and more

HTC reportedly tapped to build Facebook phone, code-named ‘Buffy'

. Last year, there were plenty of rumors that Facebook was working on building a phone of its own. Ultimately, a pair of humdrum devices with a simple “Facebook button” ended up hitting the market, and the rumors stopped… until now. On Monday, AllThingsD said it has learned that Facebook is working closely with HTC on a new phone currently codenamed “Buffy.” The device will supposedly run a modified version of Android that, obviously, will put Facebook's services smack in the faces of its users. The two companies are also working to add support so that developers can write HTML5 apps for the phone.

Boy Genius Report, HTC reportedly tapped to build Facebook phone, code-named ‘Buffy'

Efi Office Space Divider for Extreme Privacy

. If you are not claustrophobic, do not care looking like a weirdo and have a hard time concentrating in open space working environments, then, Efi, a concept design by Mathieu Servais, would the perfect Christmas gift for you. Efi looks like a giant lamp (see picture) but instead of featuring a light bulb, the lampshade acts as a computer display, from where the user can check emails or browse the internet.



Ubergizmo, Efi Office Space Divider for Extreme Privacy

HP releases 2011 Q4 earnings: $9.7 billion operating profit for fiscal year 2011

It hasn't been the best year for HP, what with the demise of webOS and the uncertainty surrounding its status as a PC maker. But, Meg Whitman hasn't taken the bridge of a sunken ship, though things are far from peachy keen. HP just posted its Q4 2011 earnings, and the company cleared a healthy $9.7 billion operating profit in 2011, though that's down 10 percent from last year. And, revenue for the quarter was 32.1 billion, a three percent decline from 2010. So, the news isn't the best for you HP fans, but we'll be listening in on the earnings call later today, so stay tuned for more details.

Engadget, HP releases 2011 Q4 earnings: $9.7 billion operating profit for fiscal year 2011

Web Designing Strategies for Mobile Phones

A. Understand the need for designing a mobile website . The need for designing a website should be understood properly in order to come out with a perfect result. Websites might be designed with different intentions like

B. The objective of your website

A desktop website is always different from that of a mobile phone. In a computer, you have huge space to display ads and yet have everything you need to best describe your website. In the case of a mobile phone all these details have to be optimized to suit the best possible visibility in the small screen.

Trendy Gadget, Web Designing Strategies for Mobile Phones

Photojojo's Lens Dial for the iPhone photography enthusiast

The other day we reported on the Holga lens kit which was basically an iPhone case with a rotating dial at the back to swap between lomography-styled lenses. Now if lomography isn't your thing and you prefer regular photography, Photojojo may have the answer for you in the form of the Lens Dial. Just like the Holga lens kit, the Lens Dial is an iPhone case with a series of rotating lenses at the back of it. This will allow the user to swap between a 0.7x wide-angle, 0.33x fisheye and a 1.5x telephoto lens.

Ubergizmo, Photojojo's Lens Dial for the iPhone photography enthusiast

Galaxy Nexus Experiencing Volume Bug, 32GB Version Still Likely for Verizon

Though some have claimed the Samsung Galaxy Nexus could be the best smartphone ever produced, the early praise does not come without a few minor snags here and there. A bug has surfaced which sees the phone randomly mute itself then fail to respond to a users input using the volume control. After a bit of troubleshooting, the problem has been inconclusively linked to 2G data connectivity. The glitch seems to only occur when the handset is connected to the older wireless standard.



Android Phone, Galaxy Nexus Experiencing Volume Bug, 32GB Version Still Likely for Verizon

16% of cell phones have poop on them – what are you going to do about it?

You may want to reconsider using your friend's cell phone to make a call or send a text.

The Gadgeteer

See also:
tehnologies2day, 16% of cell phones have poop on them â€" what are you going to do about it?

NOOK Tablet gets the teardown treatment

Like every other electronic device that gets sold in stores, the folks over at iFixit will have their way with it, and it looks like the Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet is the latest one to be put under the knife. There's nothing too exciting to report here - with the tablet being made out of parts that are expected to be there. Though it looks a lot like the Amazon Kindle Fire with it's shell removed, but what would you expect from two similarly priced Android tablets anyway. In this case, it's mostly going to be the software that makes all the difference.

Ubergizmo, NOOK Tablet gets the teardown treatment

TouchPad hacked onto a microwave, lets you watch videos while you wait

Sometimes waiting for your food to microwave could take a while, especially if you use it to defrost, so how about watching some videos while waiting for the microwave to finish. A group of students at the University of Pennsylvania have come up with such a hack for your microwave oven. Called the μWave, it combines an Arduino with a TouchPad that has been taped to the microwave door. Basically what it does is that this contraption will search YouTube for videos that perfectly match the time it takes to microwave your food.



Ubergizmo, TouchPad hacked onto a microwave, lets you watch videos while you wait